Roofing material and process of preparing the same



H. L. WILBER. ROOFING MATERIAL AND PROCESS 0F PREPARNG THE SAME. APPLICATION FILIED ocr` 14, |916.

'1 348, 25 9.. Patented Aug. 3, 1920.

TTORNEX ters and figures of l State of Missouri, have invented body, web

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HUGH L. WILBER, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO THE WILBERITE ROOFING COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

vROOFINGr MATERIAL .AND` PROCESS OF PREPARING THE SAME.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I,I-IUGH L. WILBER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and certain new and useful Improvements in Roofing Materials and Processes of Preparing the Same; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletreference marked thereon,

which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to roofing materials.'

and process of preparing the same, and more particularly to a roofing strip of a fibrous coated with a compound, such as asphalt, pitch, tar or other equivalent substance, to renderit water proof.

To those familiar with such roofing material it is known that a body strip of aA fibrous and absorbent nature is essential .in order to present a surface to which f the coating compound will readily adhere and which is more or less porous so that it will absorb a certain percentage of the coating compound. At the same time the body strip must have sufficient tensile strength to resist the ordinary wearand tear to which it is subject. A f- In order to provide a web body thatl will absorb the preservative coating, rag or wool felt is usually employed, which during its preparation is sufiiciently pressed or rolled to give it the desired strength; Such pressing, while necessary to producethestrength of material desired, to a certain extent lessens the absorbent properties of the material and decreases the efficiency of the l product.

It is, therefore, the Qbect Of the Present Specification of Letters Patent.

through the body Patented Aug. 3, 1920.

Application led October 14, 1916. Serial No. 125,596.

invention to provide a roofing material of this character, wherein the body strips have a greater absorbing property than is ordi-` narily possible, and wherein the method employed to increase the per cent. of absorption will lessen the cost of production by permitting a body of lesser thickness and surface area without impairing the strength of the material. l

It is also an object of the present invention to provide roofing strips or sheets wherein the coatings are web, thereby taking a relatively greater percentage of coating compound as compared to the web materialJ which makes the material more resistive to fire and provides means of conduction whereby temperature changes are effective to both surface coatings and thereby practically eliminating the tendency of thel material.

In accomplishing the objects of the present inventionl I have provided improved details of structure the preferred forms of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure I is a perspective View of' a sheet of roofing material constructed according to my invention, a portion of the body web being exposed to illustrate the perforations.

Fig. II is an enlarged cross section of the Referring more in detail to the drawings 1 designates a -sheet of roofing material constructed according to the.present invention, and which comprises a central bod web 2, of an absorbent fibrous quality pre erably of -rag or wool felt to which is applied the surface coatings 3-4 of a waterproofing compound, consisting chiefly of asphaltum, tar, or an equivalent substance which is applied while in a li uid state to the web to render it water proo In preparing the body strip or web 2, it is provided throughout its entire surface with closely spaced perforations 5 which are preferably arranged in staggered rows, So asnot to impair the strength of the web material, and which are preferably punched from the material to leave the perforations entirely open to more readily receive the li uid coating,

Before app ying the surface-.coatings to' bonded together buckling or warping i therefrom.

After receiving the first saturation, the web is then passed through successive Vats of coating compound to cover the surfaces to a sufficient thickness; the coating material not only covering the surfaces, but extending through each of the perforations to bond the opposite surface coatings together.

In this manner of preparing theroofing it will be seen that a greater percentage of coating may be used than is ordinarily possible, permitting a lesser amount of the. body material, therebyV rendering the maltrial more resistive to fire and more dura- While the web would be saturated to a certain extent from the surfaces, the perforations permit a much greater percentage of saturation due to the fact that the liquid comes in contact with the ends of theweb fiber and is admitted into the web pores to provide a more thorough and much quicker saturationof the interior of the web.

It will also be seen that by so preparing the web, a greater quantity of the coating compound is used in saturating the web, but the increase in cost of additional coating compound is more than met by permitting a web of lesser thickness, and having a lesser surface area, and moreover the lasting quality and efficiency of the material is substantially increased. It is apparent that by providing the bonding between the two surface coats an absolute uniformity of expansion and contraction is provided, and buckling, or warping' of the material is eliminated.

It is also apparent that noofing of this character may be given a surface coating of gravel, slate or other substance to withstand wear and weather and may be made up in strips of any desirable length to be rolled for shipment, or may be cut in small squares to be used as shingles.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The process of preparing roofing material consisting of perforating a sheet of absorbent material, subjecting the treated sheet to a bath of preservative fluid and subjecting the treated sheet to a bath of bituminous material to coat the sides of the sheet and bond the side coats through the perforation of the inclosed sheet.

2. As an improved article of manufacture, an article composed in whole or in part of fibrous material whose surfaces are normally compact and resistive to penetration by a relatively thick saturant and Which are provided with artificial perfor-ations of relatively small area, and surface layers of relative hard asphalt affixed to the opposite surfaces of said article and joined together by bonds of asphalt filling the artificial perforations.

3. As an improved article of manufacture, an article composed in whole or in part of fibrous material whose surfaces are normally compact and resistive to penetration by a relatively thick. saturant and having one of its surfaces provided with artificial perforations of relatively small area which extend into the interior of saidarticle,and relatively thick bituminous material applied to the perforated surfacevand filling the said perforations. n

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

HUGH L. wILBnn. 

